Duterte urges more as cops kill 32 in raids
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte yesterday urged police to kill dozens of drug suspects every day, as he praised officers who shot dead 32 people this week in "shock and awe" raids.
Duterte's incendiary comments came as he acknowledged major problems in his drug war, which has claimed thousands of lives, admitting he could not win it as quickly as promised and lamenting a corrupt police force.
In one of the deadliest operations of the war, police reported killing 32 people in raids on Monday on suspected drug traffickers in Bulacan province.
"The ones who died recently in Bulacan, 32, in a massive raid, that was good," Duterte said in a speech to an anti-crime organisation that has backed the drug war. "If we could kill another 32 everyday, then maybe we can reduce what ails this country."
Earlier in the day Bulacan police chief Romeo Caramat held a press conference in Manila to publicise the raids, in which 109 suspects were also arrested.
"We wanted to shock and awe these drug personalities," Caramat said. "Other drug personalities will think twice before continuing with their drug trade."
Police have killed 3,450 people in similar drug raids since Duterte came to office in the middle of last year, according to government data. More than 2,000 other people have been killed in drug-related crimes and thousands more murdered in unexplained circumstances, according to police data.
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